Facial behavior has typically been gauged by using either comprehensive facial measurements or selective facial measurements. Comprehensive facial measurements include open-ended observations of what is casually seen or direct measurements such as the Facial Action Coding System (“FACS”) originally described in Ekman, P., Friesen, W. V., Facial Action Coding System: A Technique for the Measurement of Facial Movement, Consulting Psychologists Press, Palo Alto, Calif. (1978). Although direct comprehensive measurements are usually both time consuming and costly, they provide a much greater opportunity to discover unexpected facial action than does mere observation.
Selective facial measurements are used when the facial behavior is known in advance. The researcher must be aware of and attend only to the specific facial actions under investigation. These include selective observer judgments, or direct measurements such as (i) the Maximally Discriminative Facial Movement Coding System (‘MAX”) originally described in (i) Izard, C. E., The Maximally Discriminative Facial Movement Coding System, (Rev. ed.), Instructional Resources Center, University of Delaware, Newark, Del. (1983), (ii) the System for Identifying Affect Expression by Holistic Judgment (“AFFEX”) originally described in Izard, C., Dougherty, L., Hembree, E. A System for Identifying Affect Expressions by Holistic Judgments (AFFEX), Instructional Resources Center, University of Delaware, Newark, Del. (1983), (iii) the Emotion Facial Action Coding System (“EMFACS”) originally described in Ekman, P., Friesen, W., Ancoli, S., Facial Signs of Emotional Experience, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 39, No. 6, pp. 1125-1134 (1980), and (iv) Ekman, P., Friesen, W., Measuring Facial Movement, Environmental Psychology and Nonverbal Behavior, 1 (1), Fall 1976, pp. 56-75, and (v) facial electromyography (“EMG”). A major limitation inherent in measuring facial behavior selectively is that this approach does not usually separate emotional facial behavior from conversational facial behaviors, and certain behaviors characteristic of emotion are omitted. For example, only a limited number of the action units identified under the Emotion Facial Action Coding System (“EMFACS”) (i.e., AUs 5, 6, 7, 9 and 12) are reasonably available for coding during speech.
Investigators have conducted significant research into the use of electronic facial tracking and measurement for various purposes. U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,960, issued to Petajan, discloses an electrical system for obtaining an electronic image of the mouth region in order to facilitate and augment the ability to monitor speech.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,774,591 and 5,802,220, issued to Black, disclose an electronic system for tracking human head and facial features over time to capture relative motions for purposes of ascertaining when a sequence of images defines a dominant facial expression. The system seeks a correspondence between predefined facial gestures and perceived facial expressions for the purpose of determining which gestures trigger or support which expressions. The system does not seek to ascertain the underlying emotional response of a participant to a stimulus.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,208, issued to Podilchuk et al., discloses an electronic system for obtaining and comparing an electronic image of a face for purposes of recognition.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,088,040, issued to Oda et al., discloses an input/output control mechanism for receiving facial image information related to different facial expressions and normalizing the facial image information for subsequent comparisons.
Facial tracking and measurement have not been applied in the field of company and marketing analysis. Consumer reaction to a marketing stimulus (e.g., a television commercial) is typically assessed by a written questionnaire or survey (commonly through the internet) or means of exposing participants to the marketing stimulus (e.g., having the focus group watch the commercial) and obtaining the reactions and comments of the members immediately after exposure to the marketing stimulus by means of a written questionnaire and/or a personal interview. Similarly, employee reaction to a company stimulus (e.g., presentation on planned change in the company's benefit plan) is typically assessed by using a similar survey or “focus group” technique. While generally effective, such techniques suffer from several drawbacks, including a tendency for survey individuals or members of a focus group to express inaccurately or imprecisely their reaction to the marketing stimulus.
Current marketing theory suggests most consumer-purchasing behavior and brand loyalty is dependent on the many facets of the consumer's sensory experiences and take-away impressions—not merely on rational decisions. Marketing efforts seek to match their offerings to the potential consumer's experiences, but lack a sophisticated technique to measure the emotional response or buy-in reaction of their products or services. Measurement of workforce acceptance and buy-in to business practices, including strategic initiatives, also suffer from an inability to measure true emotional response or buy-in.
Facial coding can be effectively used to ascertain a target audience's true sensory experiences and take-away impressions to marketing offerings and company related issues respectively, but is a slow, cumbersome and expensive method requiring the highly specialized skills of personnel trained and experienced in facial coding.
Hence, a longstanding need exists for a quick, reliable and inexpensive scientific technique and methodology for measuring a consumer's emotional reaction to marketing stimuli and an employee's reaction to company stimuli.